Process of making shoes.



P.1.WENTW0RTH.

PROCESS OF MAKING SHOES.

APPLICAHON FILED Nov.19\19l7.

1,280,694. www@ om. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

P. l. WENTWGRTH.

PROCESS OF MAKING SHOES.

APPLICATION HLED Nov.19\. m7.

'Patented oat. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

" Making Shoes', of which'the following speci.

PEARL J. VJENTIVORTH, 0F FORT THOMAS, KENTUCKY.

PRQESS 0F MAKING SHOES.

resuena.

Specification of Letters `.l'*atent:-

Patented Get. i., duid.

Application filed November 19, 191'?. Sera1No.202,685.

To all whom 'it may concern.

Be it known that l., PEARL J. Visnfiwon'rn, a citizen of the United States, and residing.; at Fort Thomas, in the county o'lE Campbell and State of Kentucky, have invent-ed new and'usei'ul Improvements in Processes ot' ication is a full disclosure.

My invention deals with the production of a. shoe in which many of the operations or steps now prevailing in its manufacture are eliminated, whereby the cost ot' production is materially lessened, the manufacture siiiipliied, and a product of higher quality and iinish corresponding to lines olf` the last is produced.K l

@ne object within the contemplation of 4the invention is to formulate a sequence of manipulative steps orderly vrelated to one another as well ask individually simple and leasily accomplished, to the end that the manufacture of the' shoe may he clieapened and many machine operations eliminated.

Another object of the invention is to unitarily combine a inolded-toorin out sole, heel and shank sti'ener previous to securing the same to the shoeupper.

Another object of the invention. relates to lasting the shoe upper andv ceinenting` its turned. margins to the insole or sock lining.,

Another object of the invention is to tem'- porarily secure a unitarily combined molded-to-iorin outsole andheel in place upon the shoe upper While the upper is lasted and removing the last for permanently stitching and securing: the combined sole and heel..

Another object of the invention is to avoid repeated sole tempering operations during the process of shoe manufacture or securing ay tempered sole to the upper.

Another object of the invention is to avoid sole leveling, reduce Waste of sole leather, and to avoid nails protruding; up and through the insole.

Other objects and advantages will be in part. disclosed in the annexed drawings and in part indicated in the following descrip tion thereof.

In order' that the method and product may be so -fully revealed as toenableothers to practice the saine, drawings indicating steps in -tlie process of shoe manufacture have been appended as a part of the disclosure, and in such drawings, like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughoutthe several views, of which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a lasted shoe upper in condition to receive the. sole.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the unit sole, heel andsliank stitfener readv to he placed upon the lasted shoe upper. u

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the lasted upper with the unit sole and heel applied show` ing the method of driving a nail or fastener through the last. v

Fig. d is a top plan vieiv of a shoe with the upper cut away at the heel por'i tion` illustratingy a row of tacks,l with their heads upward for securing; the heel to'tlie A insoleand vheel seat margin of ythe upper.

is a Aloottoni plan view oi the slice, .illustratingi the line oi stitching for securing' tlie sole to the insole and upper.

The invention relates Vmore -paiticuiarly to a McKay type oit' shoe, in w iich the sole is directlysecured to the upper and not to a Welt, although a welt type of shoe may be included. l

While the invention'inay be characterized as a process or method of making` a shoe, various preliminary steps,- while essential, need not be'defined-herein in detail, as `they may represent steps as separate and distinct from the invention contemplated herein, and which may be practised independently to produce articles of commerce. Lilueivisel Lasting.

The upper l is pulled over the last 3 in a customary manner, but preferably upon a last having no metal bottom. As the upper is not tacked, no metal bottoni last is required which offers a saving in the cost rof the last'. After pulling over the upper, the sole and heel margins are stretched, cemented upon the insole and are molded to the shape of the lasthottonis. This lits the upper snugly to the last so as to contorni actly to the shape of the last. Wherever required, tlie upperinay be ironed to insure its shapingto the outline of the-last. The cement in drying effects a slight shrinkage of the material over the bottom of the last, drawing the upper more snugly to the last, and when dry results in a permanent set of the insole and margins to the shape et the bottom ot' the last. The insole and the overlapping margins of the upper may be finished to provide a smooth surface, which. adds flexibility-to the material and 4comtort to the wearer of the shoe, very important desideata`in the shoe art. Now, with the shoe upper shaped and perfectly finished to the contour of the last, it will hold its shape permanent-ly in the succeeding steps of applying the sole and heel, because no occasion arises for upsetting-its shape'in the method of applying such parts, nor is the upper subjected to strains severe enough to destroy its shape. Y

U/mft sole, LeeZ mds/zitzak sti/fence'.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings, a unit sole and shank stitfener is shown, which, of itself, is the result ot several process steps, and may be treated as an article of commerce or manufacture, separate and distinct from its as sembly into a shoe. n

2 indicates an outersole died or cut to pattern and to exact shoe size and molded to conform to the shape of the bottom ot' the last, its outer sole surfaces completely conformed to the lines desired for the finished shoe, as rounded, crosswise. of the shank, and leveled at the ball and other portions ofthe sole.

For a molding process of the sole it is only necessary to slightly inoisten or sponge the sole material, preparatory to pressing to shape under a heavy pressure, to prevent the finished surface of thematerial from checking.` The material is not Water-soaked to th'e degree required vfor tempering` under the ordinary methods of shoe making. Such water soaking is very injurious to the leather materials, destroying' their wearing quali ties and trequeiitly causing, water stains.

The sole being subjected to a heavy molding pressure retains its shape and beingper- `tectly molded before. attaching it to the upper, requires no leveling iter it is secured to the upper, thus saving a breaking down ot' the stitching` and shoe as is the case in the levelingprocess under the established method. rThe leveling operation is entirely eliminated. The sole representing a product in a shoe finished state is niadetroin ablank considerably reduced in size over a sole blank for a correspondingsize of sole finished upon the shoe. y

N o waste allowance for several temperings and trimming is made,.thus a saving in material and also of time, as there is no: delay or interruption in the manufacture, as permitting the shoe to dry before finishing. t'ter the outsole has been molded, a finished heel i" is secured to the heel portion thereof,

.downwardly or outwardly into the sea; hase lifto-t" the. heel. The'. tack heads' are Ie adjacent to the insole, leaving no protruding sharppoints on the inside or the tlnislied shoe. High French heels may be further secured to the sole by driving a nail S centrally through the sole and heel lit'ts, extending to the top lift of the heel. L in'ished heel can therefore be. firmly and rigidly attached to the outsole, or the heel can be breasted and the top litt attached betere the outsole is attached to the upper. "if his 8o avoids heel building, securing and iinishing operations after the sole has Iieen applied to the upper, (thus eliminating several niachine operations) and produces a more sef cure anchoring of thej heel to the solen A shank stitlener 5 may he compressed into the inner tace of the outsole at the time et.' molding or subsequently applied, as shown, by driving a. nail i0 through its heel end and into the heel, rigidly fastening the shank stiiilener in place, so th'at it cannot be improperly placed in the shoe or loosened after the sole has been secured'to the, upper.

lt will be observed thatv the heel portion ot' the sole, as shown in Fig. 'extends slightly beyond the heel edge or circumterm ence, an allowance made for trimming or finishing at the heel after the sole has been tempo arily applied or laid upon the lasted upper.

l brewing .Sz/Ze ain/t I0 upper.

Disregarding the steps or process ot manufacture incidental to -forming and co1nbining the sole, heel and shank stii'cner into a unit and treating the same as componen" the sole, then as a second step to the pr herein, the unit sole and heel piece is l n. upon and cemented to the bottom 'et th .lasted upper.A The cement is applied pretIN erably over the entire sole surface so that it. is not susceptible to leave hollow iriertious between the connected parts.

The heel end of the inst, as shown in Fig, 2"), has a central angular bore G therethrough, N5

providing an opening into which a nail driver, (shown iu dotted lines in Fig, 3),

may be inserted to `drive a nail 9 ontwfardly 1line to the taceof the outer sole, bringing the stitching along a'line away from the edge ot' the sole securing lap of the upper, providing a; better anchorage for the stitches.

The sole being `cut to shoe finished size and molded to final shape and cross-sectionalcurvature, has the marginal portion et' the sole` especially at the shank, fitting into close proximity to tlieupper, and the central portion of theA sole conforms closely to the shoe vbottom and after being stitched permanently holds its shape. The tension of the stitching is not destroyed by any subsequent rounding ot the sole, as rounding and leveling operations are eliminated, and, therefore, there is no tendency for the sole to separate from the upper after the shoe is worn.

The stitching may be. concealed or exposed at the outer surface of the sole as desired. For concealed stitching` a channel or furrow may be formed into the sole as disclosed in an application filed by me on May Q4, 1917, Serial No. 170,597, for improvement in shoe soles, and which can be formed at the time of stitching.

It. will thus be seen that this` invention is well adaptedt'o achieve the ends aforesaid,

in a very simple yet expeditious manner and practised quite independently of any new or special type of machines, and is not a mere function of any given machine. It elimi-l nates the. use of many machines now required in shoe making. The sole is secured Vand stitched to the upper in a dry condition so that there is no occasion for it destroying the shape of the upper or marring the finish ot' the upper. This is of particular advantage in thel manufacture of shoes made of delicate shades of upper material, as they are not liable to Water staining, occurring from a water-soaked sole under the ordinary processes.

Having described my invention, I claim:

. A method of maklng shoes, comprising cutting an outer sole to shoe finished size and molding to final curvature, lasting a shoe upper with insole, cementing the overlying margins of the'upper extending over thebottom of the last to thelinsole, and securing the said molded to finished form outer sole to the upper b v a row of straight stitching, with the last removed.`

2. A method of making shoes, comprising cutting ain-outer sole to shoe iinished size and molding to final curvature, lasting a. shoe upper, bringing the upper margins over the bottom of the last, then temporarily sccuring the 1nolded-toshape sole to the upper, and permanently securing the applied sole by a :row ot' straight stitching with the last. removed. f

3. A method of making shoes, comprising lasting a shoe upper and insole, drawing the margin of the upper over the bottom ot' last and insole, cementingthe same to the'insole, applying a .molded-to-form outer-sole to the lasted upper, removing the hist` land stitching the forepart and shank portions oit' the outsole to the upper and. insole, and nailing the said parts at thc'heel portions from the inside of the upper outward.

4, A method of making shoes, comprising cutting an outer sole to shoe finished sizeA and molding to final curvature, securing the molded-to-shape outersole temporarily to a lasted upper, removing the last and then stitching the sole. to the upper.

5. A method ot making shoes comprising securing a unitary outsole and heel temporarily to a lasted upper, the outsole being molded-toform, removing the last and permanently securing the arts.

6. A method of making shoes, comprising securing a unitary outsole, heel and shank stiffener temporarily to a lasted upper, the

outsole being molded-to-form, removing the last and permanently securing the parts.

7. A method of making shoes, comprising lasting a shoe upper With insole, cementing to the insole the margins of the upper eX- tending over the insole at the bottom of the last, temporarily securin a molded-to-form sole having a] heel app ied thereto to thev upper, then removing the last from the upper and permanently 'securing the said sole to the upper and insole.

8. A method of making shoes, comprising lasting a shoeupper and insole, drawing the margin ofthe upper over the bottom of last and insole, eementing the same to the insole, cementing a molded-to-form. outer sole to the lasted upper, removing the last and stitching the forepart. and shank portions of the outsole to the upper and insole and nailing the said parts at the heel portions from the inside of the upper outward.

9. A method of making shoes, comprising cementing to a lasted upper an outsole cut to finished size and molded to iinal curva.- ture, removing the last and permanently securing the sole to the `upper by straight stitching. l

10. A method of making shoes comprising eementing a unitary outsole and heel to a lasted upper. and insole, the outsole being ,from the inside of upper margms-onfward into the sole and im l ledtoformv` nailing said parts at the heel from the inside outwardly, removing the last and permanently securing the parts.

l1. Ametlwd of making shoes, comprising cementing n unitary outsole, heel and .shank stitiener to a lasted upper and insole, the outsole vbeing molded-to--form, nailing said parts ai the heel4 from inside the upper outwardly, removing the'last and permanently securing the parts.

12. The method of'malring shoes, comprising securing a heel and shank stiii'ener to the outer-sole of a shoe before the said sole is laid upon a lasted upper, temporarily seein-ing said unitary sole, heel and shank stiffener to the bottom of af lasted upper, removing the last and permanently securing the parts.l l

123, The method of making shoes comprising molding a solezto its finished shoe shape, securing the same to a lasted upper temporarily by cementing the parts, removingthe last and pern'ianentlysecuring said parts by stitching and nailing, the nailsbeing driven the upper through the heel.

14. The method of making shoes comprising molding a sole to itsnished shoe shape, permanently securing a finished heel to the outsole, securin the unitary outersole and heel to a laste upper temporarily by cementing the parts, removing the last and permanently securing said parts by stitching and nailing, the nails being driven from the inside ofthe upper throughthe upper margins outward into the sole and heel.

15. A. vmethodrof making shoes, compris-v ing cutting' an outer sole to shoe finished size and molding to iinal curvature, lasting a shoe upper and inner sole, cementing the overlying margin of the upper upon the in- A ner sole, cementing the said shapedtoform outer sole upon 'the lasted inner sole and upper, removing the last and stitching the outer sole to the upper and innerjsole.

y'In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribel my name,

as attested by the ktwo subscribing witnesses.

PEARL J. WENTWORTH.

Witnesses:

MILDRED SMITH, L. A. BECK. 

